Fire & Smoke · Manhattan
In a Manhattan high-rise, smoke travels far past the fire. We clean soot and odor in units floors away, and coordinate with your super and board.
Overview
Manhattan runs from high-rise towers and prewar co-ops to brownstones and street-level commercial space. Fires start with the usual causes, kitchens, electrical faults, mechanical rooms, but in a high-rise the smoke is the story: it climbs stairwells, elevator shafts, and risers and settles into units many floors from the fire, so apartments that never saw flame still fill with soot and odor. Add the water that cascades down from firefighting, and a single fire can touch a whole line of the building. We clean it, deodorize it, and rebuild, working around supers, boards, and occupied units.
Where We Work
From the Upper East and West Sides to Harlem, Chelsea, the Village, Tribeca, and the Financial District, we cover all of Manhattan 24/7. See our full fire and smoke damage process, or call 646-543-2242 any time.
Fireproof Buildings
FDNY's advice keeps you out of the smoke. It doesn't keep all the smoke out of your apartment. In a fireproof building, residents whose apartment isn't on fire are told to stay put, keep the door closed and seal it, because the building is meant to hold fire and smoke to one part of it.
The FDNY fire safety guide for apartment residents is plain about the limits: "Fireproof does not mean that the building is immune to fire." It tells residents to seal the door with duct tape or wet towels, "Seal ventilators and any other openings where smoke may enter," and turn off air conditioners.
Those openings are where we find soot afterward. Bathroom exhaust grilles, kitchen vents, the gap under the door and the window unit all draw smoke in.
Door closers matter too. HPD requires self-closing doors in residential buildings with 3 or more apartments. When we see one hallway with far more soot than the others, a propped or broken closer is often the reason.
Walk-ups are a different case. The city's emergency management office puts most non-fireproof buildings at six floors or under, and in those the advice flips to getting out.
In the first hour after a fire in your building:
Who Pays
Smoke damage in a Manhattan building usually lands on more than one party. The building's policy tends to cover common areas and the structure, and the unit owner's or tenant's own policy covers what's inside the apartment. Your proprietary lease, condo bylaws or lease decides where the line sits.
Renters are the majority here. Census QuickFacts for New York County lists Manhattan's owner-occupied rate as 25.1% for 2020 to 2024. So a single fire can involve the managing agent, the board, a sponsor or landlord, several unit owners and a few renters' carriers at once.
We write up each unit separately, with its own photos and soot test results, so nobody's claim waits on somebody else's.
Before any rebuild work starts, most boards want their contractor paperwork signed and the schedule approved. We ask management for the building's work rules on day one. For a closer look at how responsibility splits in these buildings, see who pays in a co-op or condo.
How The Job Runs
We test before we quote. A dry chemical sponge on walls, vents and door tops shows us how far soot traveled. We test the apartment that burned, the units along the same line and one unit that looks clean, so we can compare.
HEPA vacuuming comes first, then sponge and wet cleaning, then odor treatment with air scrubbers running. In occupied buildings we pad the service elevator, cover the hallway and keep to the hours management sets.
The apartment where the fire started usually needs demolition and a rebuild. All Star does that work too: our own rebuild crew starts once the board signs off. Our apartment fire damage page covers the unit itself in more detail.
All Star Restoration handles fire and smoke damage restoration in Manhattan apartments, co-ops and condos, from soot testing to the rebuild. Call 646-543-2242.
Questions
Yes. In high-rises smoke reaches units far from the fire. We clean the soot, treat the air, and remove the odor at its source.
Yes. We are used to board requirements, building hours, and keeping the work clean in occupied buildings.
Not for testing and cleaning in most buildings, but check with management. Rebuild work is different. Most co-ops and condos want contractor paperwork and a schedule approved first, so we request the building's rules on the first day.
Usually you start with your own policy for your apartment and belongings, and the insurers work out among themselves whether another party owes. We give you a separate report for your unit with test results and photos.
Water, fire, mold, or sewage, one call starts the recovery. We show up fast and we do not leave until it is done right.
Call 646-543-2242 Request ServiceRequest Service
We'll call you right back, and give you a free estimate. For an active emergency, the fastest way to reach us is by phone, day or night.